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"By These Ten Bones" by Clare Dunkle

Author:

Clare Dunkle

Publisher:

New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2005

Reviewed by:

Kathy Myers, Carthage College, Hedberg Library

Clare Dunkle has woven a tale from historical fantasy that is about the terrifying unknown. It is a tale about a werewolf with realistic descriptions about his life and how it affects those he comes in contact with. Dunkle takes us into the northern hills of Scotland long, long ago. “Trapped between those hills, like a long silver knife blade, lay the quiet waters of the loch, with the gray castle on its gravel shore and the flat, waterlogged bog land at its head.” (p11) We see the events unfold through the eyes of a young girl; Maddie is the only child of the village weaver. Into this quiet village arrive four strangers. One of them is a young man who does not speak to anyone but carves beautiful wood carvings. The villagers call him Carver and accept him into their village to carve wood utensils for them. Carver only speaks to Maddie when he does begin to communicate. Maddie finds herself falling in love with the Carver.

Strange events begin to happen in the village. There is something evil in the night that attacks the young wood carver. Maddie and her mother nurse him back to health. Then a baby is born disfigured and dies, the lady of the castle disappears mysteriously, and then Black Ewan is attacked and killed. The villagers believe that the Water Horse has come from the loch. Maddie is told a secret but is sworn an oath not to tell anyone about the evil that has come her village. She is torn between her loyalty to the oath and saving the lives of everyone in her village from the evil.

Maddie was also told that the way to stop the werewolf was to sacrifice herself willingly to die and that would save her whole village. Maddie is struggling with what she should do and talks with the village priest. “Here’s something the young don’t think of,” answered the priest. “We all of us have to die. This life is just a test to see what sort of person you’ll be, whether you’ll be honest and faithful or wicked and mean. The hardships that come with it are part of the test, and at the end of it, we die. Folk worry about that overmuch. They can’t see beyond this one, the life that we prepare for ourselves while we’re here.” (p150)

This is a book about coming of age for Maddie and her decision about sacrifice for those that she loves. The werewolf is actually a member of the society and his interactions affect those around him. Dunkle has written so that readers can feel that they are in ancient Scotland and feeling the emotions that the villagers are feeling at this time as the events unfold.